It’s not quite the end of the summer season, and certainly not the end of the hurricane season which theoretically ends November 1. Remember Sandy hit near the end of October so we really can’t breathe easy yet. There are tropical depressions and a storm called Franklin now slated to become a hurricane, moving toward Bermuda.
Of course, the way the water feels, the tropics are already here. The Jersey coast has water temperatures around 75 and above, and the water gets warmer the further south you go. In Greenland, it’s still pretty cold but the ice sheet is melting faster than we thought it would, not chilling our water as ice cubes might, but warming the ocean.
Why that piece of land was called Greenland may be beyond our imagination, but it is getting greener as ice floes and mountainous glaciers start breaking off. Ice sheets shield the earth from the sun’s warming rays; the dark ocean absorbs the heat. Unless we move, and move quickly to stop the warming from fossil fuels, you won’t need a Jacuzzi, just the ocean.
Prayer for the Day
Perplexed, we search for direction, Holy Power of our lives,
For often we know not where to turn or what to believe;
Given the ability to think, discern, and decide, we flounder,
For we are immobilized without your presence as a guide.
Grant that we are able to respond to change around us.
And embrace and guide us as we strive to live your Gospel
As did the One we follow,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Warm conditions in both the northern and southern sections of the island have led to a record high melt-degree-day index for weather stations in those areas for the periods when they have operated. For all days in a season where the maximum temperature is above freezing, the melting degree day index sums the total number of degrees above freezing for each day.
- National Science Foundation paper on Greenland ice melt
We are basically taking biopsies which will hopefully tell us how sensitive the patient is to ongoing warming — and how much warming is fatal.
- Jeorg Schaefer, research scientist, Greenland ice sheet
For I know that the Lord is great; our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord leases is done, in heaven and on earth in the seas and all deeps.
Psalm 135: 5-6